GB Labs to show 'World’s First 8K Shared Storage System' at Broadcast Asia

READING, ENGLAND-- GB Labs has introduced Space SSD Ultimate, which the company says is the first networked storage system for 8K grading, editing, compositing and motion graphics. GB Labs says its news Space SSD Ultimate offers broadcasters and post production companies a storage system with more than double the performance offered by previous SSD RAID systems.

Launching in the wake of the announcement by Japanese broadcaster NHK that it is to begin trialling 8K TV broadcasts in 2016, Space SSD Ultimate is a shared storage system that allows online editing of Super Hi-Vision files. It is tuned and configured to provide significantly improved IOPs (Input/Output Operations Per Second) for simultaneous read and write operations without degrading performance. Its 6000 MBps can handle of up-to 44 streams of uncompressed HD, 10 streams of 4K DPX or four streams of 8K video, with multiple workstations addressing the storage over 40Gb Ethernet connections.

Ben Pearce, director, GB Labs said: “With broadcasters undertaking 8K television trials and graphics professionals routinely working in 4K at very high frame rates, there’s already a compelling case for Space SSD Ultimate. The speed of the system is breathtaking, but the cost of ownership is kept in check thanks to inclusion of Space’s data management tools. These enable users to immediately offload completed 8K projects onto larger capacity, lower cost storage securely and at high speed.”

With plans in place to roll out a commercial 8K service in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and with the launch of the 8K Cube Camera at NAB 2014, television at 7,680 × 4,320 resolution is fast becoming a reality, says Pierce. The product will be shown at the GB Labs stand at Broadcast Asia in June.